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Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park hampered by wind, lightning

Firefighters use an existing avalanche chute as a natural barrier to perform a burn out operation on the Big Meadows fire near Rocky Mountain National Park, June 14, 2013. (Provided by Rocky Mountain National Park)

A fire burning in a relatively remote area of Rocky Mountain National Park about 5 miles north of Grand Lake was at 60 percent containment Sunday.

Fire managers were sweating out wind gusts up to 50 mph, low humidity and the potential for dry lightning that could rekindle the Big Meadows fire, which already has consumed more than 600 acres in an area full of trees killed by bark beetles.

The area, however, has a 20 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms Sunday afternoon.

No homes have been lost or threatened. A firefighter on Sunday was taken out by helicopter to a hospital. Fire managers have not named the firefighter or elaborated on the "medical emergency," other than to say it was not an accident.

Uniweep Fire Module firefighters form a digging line near the Big Meadows Fire, June 14, 2013. (Kelly Boyd, Uniweep Fire Module/Provided by Rocky Mountain National Park)

Friday a helicopter and rescue crew working on the fire saved a 36-year-old climber in the Lumpy Ridge area on the east side the park, unrelated to blaze.

With progress on the Big Meadows fire, authorities hoped to turn over one of its two airplancs and one of its three helicopters for use on other fires in the state. Two wildland fire crews made up of eight fire-fighters each, four 20-person hotshot crews, and two fire engines.

The park remains open, as do all major roads and facilities there. Seven trails are closed: the Onahu Trail, the Green Mountain Trail and the lower Tonahutu Trail.

Five trails have reopened: the two Tonahuhu Spur trails, the Grand Lake Lodge Spur Trail, the Timber Lake Trail, and the trail from Milner Pass toward Mount Ida.